Daily Archives: April 22, 2011

EM funds: still hot

April 22, 2011 5:15 pm by Alexandra Stevenson

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Was it all a bad dream? On Monday emerging market investors made a mad dash for the exits, sending global emerging markets plunging. But the impetus – a decision by Standard & Poor’s to downgrade its American credit rating to negative – didn’t seem to have a lasting effect on risk appetite.

Global emerging market funds saw US$1,595m of inflows over the last week, marking a fourth week of inflows. Which is not surprising given that many emerging market central banks – faced with rapidly appreciating currencies – are poised to continue raising interest rates. Continue reading »

Tags: EPFR, equities, fund flows, investment Posted in Global | Permalink

China-Uzbekistan: Gas diplomacy

April 22, 2011 2:21 pm by Isabel Gorst

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China has taken another step to loosen Russia’s stranglehold on central Asian gas supplies after winning an offer from Uzbekistan to double the amount of gas it has promised to supply.

Uzbekistan has already committed to delivering 10bcm a year of gas to China through a pan-central Asian pipeline that opened in 2009, ending Russia’s monopoly over gas export routes out of the landlocked region. Continue reading »

Tags: energy, oil & gas Posted in China, Uzbekistan | Permalink

Taiwan’s petrochemicals ambitions: missing the boat?

April 22, 2011 1:10 pm by Robin Kwong

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So much for government-led economic development in Taiwan. While the island’s government created an economic miracle in the 1980s by promoting high-tech manufacturing, Taiwan’s plans to build up petrochemicals as a second ‘national champion’ industry is turning out to be far less successful.

On Friday the government effectively conceded defeat as it announced it would no longer back a $20bn petrochemical plant in an ecologically sensitive wetland. Continue reading »

Tags: commodities, economic growth Posted in Taiwan | Permalink

New York headlines

April 22, 2011 12:19 pm by beyondbrics

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* Third day of Shanghai strike threatens China exports

* PBOC fixes yuan mid-point at record high of 6.5156/dlr

* Fresh clashes on Thai-Cambodian border

* Turkey bonds edge higher after surprise reserve ratio hike Continue reading »

Posted in Global | Permalink

Google’s China market share: declining

April 22, 2011 11:03 am by Alexandra Stevenson

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Locking horns with the Chinese government has not been good for Google’s internet search business in China. Data released on Friday shows Google has lost market share to Baidu - its main competitor – for the fifth quarter in a row. The internet giant currently has 19.2 per cent share of the market, while Baidu has 75.8 per cent. That’ s a decline of 11.8 percentage points since the beginning of last year, when the search giant first announced its partial retreat from the mainland to Hong Kong.

But it’s not all bad news for Google. While it’s search engine numbers are declining, Google’s overall revenues from China are not. Continue reading »

Tags: internet, technology Posted in China | Permalink

India: Economic planners keep faith with Nehru dream

April 22, 2011 8:21 am by James Lamont

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When Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, introduced his newly independent country’s system of five yearly economic planning, he could only have dreamed of today’s growth rates.

The Planning Commission, a legacy of his leadership, this week targeted growth of 9 per cent to 9.5 per cent economic growth as it put the final touches on the 12th Plan, which will run between 2012 and 2017.

In 1951, when Nehru launched the country’s First Plan, growth was forecast at 2.1 per cent. Continue reading »

Tags: economic growth, GDP, politics Posted in India | Permalink

Guest post: China’s food for thought

April 22, 2011 7:00 am by beyondbrics

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By Michael Silverstein, senior Partner and Fellow at the Boston Consulting Group

You are what you eat – and, judging by the fast-changing diet of China’s vast population – we can see that China is becoming richer. This is evidenced by a dramatic shift in Chinese consumption trends that is seeing more money being spent on food.

Never before has there been such a dramatic shift of so large a group of people – and the result will be a transformational impact on the world’s food market. Continue reading »

Tags: consumption, food & drink, guest post Posted in China | Permalink

India: hoping for a deluge

April 22, 2011 6:00 am by Akanksha Awal

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India’s monsoon season is well on its way, and farmers and traders are rejoicing at the prospect of what a “normal” deluge could bring in the form of relief from high food inflation. More than 60 per cent of Indian farmers depend entirely on the monsoon for their crops.

So important is India’s monsoon, which is usually from June to September, that news earlier this week from India’s Meteorological Department that the 2011 season would be regular sent India’s Sensex index on a two-day rally.

Tags: agriculture Posted in India | Permalink

London headlines

April 22, 2011 5:15 am by beyondbrics

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* Singh attacks civil service over graft

* China clears sale of Motorola unit to NSN

* India planners step back from double-digit growth

* Samsung Sues Apple as Patent Dispute Deepens

* New nuclear power plants ‘set to be approved’ Continue reading »

Posted in Global | Permalink

Venezuelan trade plans to backfire?

April 22, 2011 1:07 am by Benedict Mander

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Like the South American independence hero Simón Bolívar, his modern-day disciple Hugo Chávez dreams of unifying the region, to stand stronger against the “imperialist threat”. But if trade is anything to go by – an excellent way to bring regions closer together – the success of Chávez’s “Bolivarian revolution” has so far been mixed.

This Friday 22nd April, Venezuela’s membership in the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), the regional trade bloc now comprising just Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, finally expires. It is being described as a “death blow” to the group, with trade between Venezuela and Colombia constituting about half its activity. Continue reading »

Posted in LatAm, Venezuela | Permalink

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Daily Archives: April 22, 2011

EM funds: still hot

China-Uzbekistan: Gas diplomacy

Taiwan’s petrochemicals ambitions: missing the boat?

New York headlines

Google’s China market share: declining

Further reading: Chinese in Africa

India: Economic planners keep faith with Nehru dream

Guest post: China’s food for thought

India: hoping for a deluge

London headlines

Venezuelan trade plans to backfire?

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